1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to remote dog training systems, and, more particularly, to signal processing relative to the dog training system's transmitters/receivers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Remote dog training systems typically provide at least one stimulus, via a transmitter operated by a human trainer, to a dog which is typically wearing a collar with a receiver which is responsive to the trainer's transmitter. The stimuli can include a sound/tone activation and/or an electrical stimulation, although other stimulation such as a vibrational stimulus can be used. The electrical stimulation is provided to the dog through receiver electrodes which are in contact with some part of the dog's neck. In order to accommodate differences between breeds, individual dog temperament, training conditions, etc., it is advantageous to provide a wide range of possible stimulation, which range is selectable at the transmitter by the trainer. For example, the general difference in coat/skin of one breed versus another breed may provide a general difference in contact resistance, which can generally make a given breed more correctable at a lower electrical stimulation than another breed which has a thicker coat with a downy underlayer, for example. Further, a relatively strong willed dog may require more stimulation for a given training condition than a more amenable dog. Yet further, training conditions can play a large role in determining the amount of stimulation necessary for a given dog. For example, if a dog is being trained to hunt upland gamebirds, and the hunter and/or dog inadvertently spooks a deer which is bedding nearby, the dog can easily become almost completely focused on coursing the deer. In such conditions, the hunter may need to provide a much higher level of stimulation to the dog to correct the dog from chasing the deer, and to resume the bird hunt.
Depending on terrain and/or cover conditions, the hunter may not be aware of the fact that the dog is chasing a deer, and therefore needs immediate strong correction, until the dog is a considerable distance from the hunter/trainer. As the distance between the dog and trainer increases, the need for correction may correspondingly increase, as the deer may cross a hazard such as a road with the following dog unaware or unconcerned about possible oncoming traffic. Although the above example is relative to a sporting dog, a similar situation arises in the case of off-leash obedience training of a companion dog in the presence of a darting squirrel, for example. The effective range of a transmitter/receiver pair, that is the maximum distance between a remote dog training transmitter and receiver for which a correction command transmitted by the transmitter, and is reliably received and executed by the receiver, is a function of many factors such as transmitted power output, receiver sensitivity, antenna efficiency, noise, interference, atmospheric conditions and other elements. In the case of at least some of the physical parameters of a dog training system, such as transmitted power output, receiver sensitivity and antenna efficiency, increasing the performance of these elements to increase the effective range of the system adds cost to the system components. A possible alternative to adding cost by improving component performance is increasing system performance through appropriate signal processing.
A control system and method for remote launchers (of gamebirds or training dummies) for dog training discloses a transmission signaling which includes the transmission of sixteen timing pulses, followed by a packet of information including three consecutive identification (ID) bytes constituting the address or identification of the particular launcher unit to which the transmission is intended, followed by a one-byte function code, and that is followed by a checksum byte. The checksum byte is followed by a 1400 microsecond delay before the packet of three ID bytes are re-sent. A parity bit at the end of that sequence is checked. Although the checksum byte and parity bit can possibly detect errors in the transmission, there is no accommodation for correcting any detected error. Further, although the packet of three ID bytes are re-sent, which gives a second chance to correctly identify the launcher unit to be activated, the function code is not re-sent; therefore an error in the function code causes an error in the launcher thereby reducing the system reliability.
What is needed in the art is a method and apparatus for increasing the effective range and reliability of a dog training system without increasing the cost of the system components.